Doll with skin-covered articulated skeleton

ABSTRACT

A JOINTED DOLL INCLUDES A PLURALITY OF ARTICULATED SKELETON PORTIONS INCLUDING FRAME AND SHELL SECTIONS WHICH TOGETHER DEFINE THE OUTLINE OF A BODY. THE FRAME SECTIONS MAY INCLUDE HINGED JOINTS AND ARE SURROUNDED BY ASSOCIATED SHELL SECTIONS, THE LATTER BEING FORMED OF HALF SECTIONS. A DISCRETE SKIN OF RESILIENT MATERIAL TIGHTLY SURROUNDS THE SKELETON PORTIONS TO CONCEAL THE SAME AND PROTECT THE SAME AGAINST THE INTRUSION OF CONTAMINANTS WHILE PERMITTING FULL FREEDOM OF RELATIVE MOVEMENT FOR THE ARTICULATED SKELETON PORTIONS. THE SKIN MAY BE RELIED UPON TO KEEP THE SHELL SECTION HALF SECTIONS ASSEMBLED, OR THEY MAY BE BONDED.

Jan. 19, 1971 3,555,723

' DOLL WITH SKIN-COVERED ARTIQULATED sKELEToN H. KOPSCH ETAL Filed April 15, 1968 INVENTOR f,

g ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,555,723 DOLL WITH SKIN-COVERED ARTICULATED SKELETON Heinz Kopsch, Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Gnther Wilbring, Leutershausen, and Paul Fay and Wilhelm Hanf, Viernheim, Hesse, Germany, assignors to Schildkrot AG vorm. Rheinische Gummiund Celluloid- Fabrik, Mannheim-Neckaru, Germany Filed Apr. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 721,524 Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 14, 1967, Sch 40,544 Int. ICl. A63h 3/20 U.S. Cl. 46-161 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A jointed doll includes a plurality of articulated skeleton portions including frame and shell sections which together define the outline of a body. The frame sections may include hinged joints and are surrounded by associated shell sections, the latter being formed of half sections. A discrete skin of resilient material tightly surrounds the skeleton portions to conceal the same and protect the same against the intrusion of contaminants while permitting full freedom of relative movement for the articulated skeleton portions. The skin may be relied upon to keep the shell section half sections assembled, or they may be bonded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a doll, in general, and more particularly to a jointed doll. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to a jointed doll comprising a plurality of articulated skeleton portions which define the outline of a body and which are tightly surrounded by a flexible skin of resilient material.

The construction of dolls, whether they be resemblances of the human body, of an animal body, or of an imaginary body such as a robot, with articulated limbs is of course not new. In fact, it is well known to articulately connect the arms and legs of the doll to the torso thereof. However, in all such constructions which are known to us there is a relatively large gap between the articulately connected portions, that is at the joint connecting such portions. These joints are usually of the ball-and-socket type. The presence of this gap is objectionable for two reasons, because it detracts from the desired close resemblance with the body which is being imitated, and also known the gap serves to accumulate dust, dirt and other contaminants which are not only hygienically objectionable but also impair the proper operation of the joint.

Attempts have been made to overcome this by either embedding bendable wire frames or skeleton constructions in foamed plastic material or in soft plastic material, or to dispose them within a self-supporting outer skin construction. Embedding, however, is practicable only with rather small dolls, or with dolls having very thin limbs because suicient articulate movement of the joints cannot be obtained Iotherwise. Arranging of the skeleton within a self-supporting outer skin, on the other hand, requires the skin to be rather stiff, because otherwise the irregular shapes of the skeleton portions are clearly discernable through the skin when even relatively minor movements of the limbs with reference to one another or the torso are carried out.

All of this is, of course, undesirable and it is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a doll which is not subject to the aforementioned disadvantages.

A more particular object of the present invention is to provide a jointed doll which is simple and inexpensive to construct and which provides suflicient freedom of move- 3,555,723 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 ment of the articulated body portions without adverse effect upon the life-like natural appearance of the doll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION the undesired intrusion of contaminants. At the same time,v

however, this skin of resilient material permits freedom of relative movement of the articulatedly connected skeleton portions.

A doll constructed in accordance with our invention makes it possible to construct all extremities in a most lifelike form, that is the extremities may have knee joints and elbow joints, they may have leg joints and arm joints, and they may even have hip joints. The skeleton portions closely dene the outline of the body and the skin which is entirely separate from the skeleton portions but tightly surrounds the same, conceals the skeleton portions as well as the joints connecting the same so that the skeleton portions and these joints are protected not only from the intrusion of contaminants but also against visual observation. Thus, this skin provides for the doll an extremely lifelike appearance without, however, in the slightest interfering with the desired articulated movements of the skeleton portions because, not being in any way secured to these skeleton portions, the skin and the skeleton portions can perform sliding movement with reference to one another when the skeleton portions are articulatedly moved.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view, partly broken away and partly in section, of a doll embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail view illustrating an alternate joint construction according to our invention; and

FIG. 3 is a view of FIG. 2 as seen looking from the left-hand towards the right-hand side of the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof,4 it will be seen that the doll illustrated resembles a human body. The invention will be discussed in detail with respect to the leg of the doll which is shown in longitudinal section.

As FIG. 1 clearly'shows this leg comprises a joint which is not illustrated in detail but which is located within a joint housing constituted by two hemispherical housing sections 2 and 3. These housing sections are turnable with reference to one another, about the axis A which is indicated with a chain line. The joint here discussed is a knee joint and the joint for the foot is shown in the same leg, with the axis of rotation being indicated in the same manner.

Each of the sections 2 and 3 carries a projecting portion which is respectively identified with reference numeral 1 and with reference numeral 4. Of course the projecting portions 1 and 4 are turnable about the axis A because they are respectively rigid with one of the sections 2 and 3. Thus, the sections 2 and 3 and the portions 1 and 4 constitute in elect inner frame sections. A pair of outer shell sections 5, which together surround these inner frame sections and in part delne the exterior outline of the leg, are connected to the upper portion 1 by means of projections 6 and 7 which respectively extend into recesses provided in the portion 1. Advantageously, they are adhesively secured in these recesses.

While the sections 5 dene the upper thigh of the leg, two additional sections 8 are located below the knee region, that is they extend downwardly from the joint housed within the housing portions 2 and 3. These additional sections 8 are provided with projections 9 and 110 which respectively engage in a recess provided in the portion 4 carried by the housing portion 3 and in a recess provided in a portion 11 which corresponds to the portion 1 but is provided on a housing portion of the foot joint 12. The articulation of the various portions of the other leg and of the arms is carried out in the same manner. Advantageously the sections 5 and 8 consist of synthetic plastic material and may be adhesively or otherwise bonded together along the lines 14 at which they respectively abut, as indicated by the legend provided in FIG. 1.

An alternate possibility for the outer shell sections is to make them in one-piece construction as hollow bodies. In this case, they will be slotted or slit along a line corresponding to the line 14 and, because they are elastic, it is possible to distend them along the line so as to introduce the components which constitute the inner frame sections into the interior. Release of the distended portions of the hollow body outer shell sections then results in closing of the same along the slit line. In either case, the end portions Sa, 8a of the shell sections 5 and 8, which, as shown in FIG. 1, tightly and elastically abut against the hemispherical housing portions 2, 3 or those of the joint 12, are chamfered or tapered so as t properly engage the outer surfaces of the housing portions 2 and 3. It will be understood, of course, that it is also possible to form the sections and 8 integrally with the portions 1, 4 and 11 if desired.

The remainder of the doll is constructed in the same manner in which this has been shown with reference to the leg illustrated in section in FIG. 1.

The entire skeleton thus constructed is tightly encased in an outer skin 15 which consists of a highly elastic material and which is, according to a presently preferred concept of our invention produced by the dipping process from natural and/or synethetic rubber or latex. Alternately, the skin 15 may be produced by the extrusion blow-molding process from an elastic material, such as a thermoplastic styrol-butadiene rubber, a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer or ethylene-vinyl acetate-copolymerizate. A further alternative is t0 produce the skin by casting in a hollow mold.

The skeleton, including the joint portions and the various shell sections is advantageously produced by injection molding of synthetic plastic material. We prefer to apply the skin 15 over all portions of the given extremity, that is over the entire leg including the foot or the entire arm including the hand. In this case, the arms and legs thus surrounded and protected are then secured to the torso in the usual manner known in the art. However, it is equally well possible to surround all extremities and the torso at least in part with a single skin common to them all.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 shows an alternative joint which may replace the joint 12 shown in FIG. l, that is the joint connecting the foot with the leg. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, this alternative 4 joint will be seen to include a part-spherical end portion 21 at the lower end of the leg and a complementarily coniigurated socket 24, in the foot. The two thus connected parts can be displaced articulatedly with reference to one another to a limited extent. Two extreme positions are shown in FIG. 2 in full lines and in chain lines, respectively. As FIG. 3 shows, the freedom of movement of the parts 20 and 21 with respect to one another is limited by the provision of a projecting pin portion 22 provided on the lower end portion 21 of the leg and which extends into and is guided within a slot 23 in the wall bounding the socket 24 in the foot portion 20. Of course, as in the case of FIG. 1, a joint constructed according to FIGS. 2 and 3 will also be encased within the skin 15 of the leg.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also iind a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention had been illustrated and described as embodied in a jointed doll, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foreging will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specic aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A jointed doll comprising, in combination, skeleton means including a plurality of skeleton portions together defining the outline of a body having a trunk and extremities, said skeleton portions comprising inner frame sections and outer shell section dening the outline of said body and surrounding said frame sections; a pluarity of joints articulately connecting said skeleton portions and comprising hinged joints each including a pair of hemispherical outer housing portions surrounded by the associated shell sections and connected to some of said inner frame sections with the housing portions of each pair being rotatable relative to each other about an axis and together defining a spherical joint housing; and discrete skin means of resilient material tightly surrounding said skeleton means at least partially, said skin means concealing the surrounded parts of said skeleton means and protecting the same but permitting freedom of relative movement of said articulately connected skeleton portions.

2. A doll as defined in claim 1, wherein said shell sections have end portions elastically engaging the respective joint housing exteriorly thereof.

3. A doll as defined in claim 1, wherein some of said joints are ball-and-socket joints.

4. A doll as defined in claim 3; and further comprising limiting means operatively associated with at least some of said ball-and-socket joints for limiting the freedom of articulate displacement of the same.

5. A doll as dened in claim 1, wherein at least some of said shell sections comprise two cooperating shell halves which together constitute a shell section.

6. A doll as defined in claim 5, said shell halves being discrete members maintained by said skin means in the position in which said shell halves together constitute a shell section surrounding an associated frame section.

7. A doll as defined in claim 5, said shell halves surrounding an associated frame section and being bonded to one another in the position in which they together constitute a shell section.

8. A doll as dened in claim 1, wherein at least some of said shell sections are substantially closed hollow bodies of elastically deflectable material provided with an elastically distendable slot for introduction of the associated inner frame section into the interior of the respective shell section.

9. A doll as defined in claim 1, said frame sections and said shell sections being provided with mating coupling members which engage one another in mating relationship when said shell sections surround the associated frame sections.

10. A doll as delined in claim 9, wherein said coupling members comprise pins provided on said shell sections nteriorly thereof, and recesses provided on the respective frame sections and being adapted to receive said pins.

11. A doll as dened in claim 1, said shell sections being provided with male coupling portions interiorly thereof, and said housing portions each being provided with an exterior extension projecting from the respective housing portion normal to said axis and being provided with female coupling portions adapted to matingly receive a cooperating male coupling portion of the associated shell section.

12. A doll as defined in claim 11, at least some of said shell sections having opposite end portions each coop erating with one of said joints, wherein said male coupling 4portions being provided on such shell sections in the region of the opposite end portions thereof and matingly engaging with female coupling portions provided on an extension of the respective joint.

13. A doll as defined in claim 1, said skin means being dipped skin consisting of a substance selected from the lgroup comprising natural rubber, synthetic rubber and atex.

14. A doll as defined in claim 1, said skin means being blow-molded skin consisting of thermoplastic styrol-butadiene rubber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,483,718 2/1924 Corrubia 46-161 2,129,421 9/1938 Hales 46-156 2,846,810 8/1958 Ory 46-161X 3,462,877 8/1969 Lang 46-161X FOREIGN PATENTS 425,261 1/ 1911 France.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner U.C. C1. X.R. 46-163 

